


Compassion Does Not Always Lead to Sainthood

by TasteofDeath



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Adoption, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dragons, Child Abandonment, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dragons, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Found Family, Hatchlings, Hunting, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Interspecies Relationship(s), M/M, Newborn Children, Parenthood, Wyrmlings, no beta we die like men, tags to be updated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:34:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25359274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TasteofDeath/pseuds/TasteofDeath
Summary: Kravitz finds a mysterious collection of silver shards while he’s out hunting.How was he supposed to know that would lead to him adopting a wyrmling?
Relationships: Angus McDonald & Taako, Kravitz & Angus McDonald, Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 37





	Compassion Does Not Always Lead to Sainthood

**Author's Note:**

> Caution: references to freezing to death, childhood abandonment, non graphic violence and animal death (preparing animals to be cooked and mentions of blood and killing, and references to carcasses and dead bodies of animals), cannibalism (though this doesn’t actually happen, and is only referenced once).
> 
> Please be safe and take care of yourselves. If any of these things are triggering to you then this may not be the fic for you!! Keep in kind these are only small moments and majority of this is just fluff and cuddles and awkwardness!!
> 
> <3 enjoy, leave kudos, and leave comments!! I love to hear what y’all have to say!!
> 
> Please let me know of any inconsistencies and spelling/grammar mistakes!!

Kravitz loved the cold.

He loved the way the cold air lapped at his scales, the way snowflakes clung to his eye lashes, and the way that icy water enveloped his form when he felt like fishing.

He soared through the early morning sky, tinged with pinks and reds, searching for a meal to last him and his mate a while, because his mate quote unquote, “I fucking hate the cold Kravitz. The only thing keeping me here and freezing my ass off in this fucking winter is you and this fire. If you don’t want to eat charcoal then you best do the hunting, boo,”. The cold air rushed over his face, and he relished in it. 

He crossed over lakes and rock formations, both uninhabitable for creatures that he and Taako would be able to share (Kravitz rather liked fish, both raw and cooked, but Taako gagged at even the thought).

It took a while, but eventually he found himself flying over a wide forest. He flew in silent rings over the wood, inspecting for any signs of humans or other dragons.

He assessed the area to be safe, and thankfully inhabited by creatures both he and Taako enjoyed. He swooped down toward a piece of land that wasn’t covered by tall trees, sinking his feet into the tightly packed snow, fresh from the night before. 

He made his footstep light and silent, staying invisible to the deer that slept soundly, his body hunched to crawl beneath the painful needles that stuck out of the native trees and were rather pesky to remove from his scales. 

It didn’t take him long to have a sizeable amount of deer held loosely in his jaw. He refrained from being too violent (like Taako was wont to do) so as not to alert any overzealous humans to his existence with any haphazardly spilled splatters of blood.

With the amount of deer he had, he would be able to feed him and his mate for a good few days, storing left over meat in a snow heap near their cave. Kravitz’ tail swished happily, looking forward to presenting his catch to his mate. How happy he would be!

Kravitz was about ready to start heading back when something caught his eye. 

A mound of snow, sat alone in a flat field of slurry and ice. It couldn’t have been naturally formed. Snow doesn’t just fall from the heavens in huge piles.

His instincts knew best, they told him to run, to get out of there before some unknown predator or well camouflaged poacher got the best of him, but his curiosity won the battle.

He carefully padded over to the mound, silent and almost invisible against the shimmering snow. 

The mound had no footsteps surrounding it, no splatters of blood or even signs of life. He gently dug his claws into the mound, shoveling the snow away to investigate further. What he found was rather troubling. 

Shards. Shining, silver shards. They were thin and flimsy, crumbling when he attempted to pick up a fragment. He dug further and instantly blanched at what he saw. 

The silver shards were that of an egg. 

A dragon egg.

The snow was filled with fragments of a hatched egg, two bigger pieces glinting in the sunlight tauntingly. The snow beneath was carpeted in a thick liquid, that came away sticky when Kravitz dipped a claw in.

He would’ve assumed that not long before, a wyrmling would have hatched and left with its parent, but if that was the case then the mound would have been demolished when the parent came to collect their hatchling. 

Kravitz was rather perplexed, frowning around the deer in his mouth. He sniffed around the mound, searching for signs of a predator that liked to snack on newborns or perhaps a human that wished to sell the poor hatchling. He wouldn’t mind tearing apart anyone who wished to do so.

He was ready to leave, to go home or to search the area for the offending thieving creature when he noticed the trail in the snow.

A line, heading in the same direction for as far as the trees would let him see. The liquid poured down from the broken egg and down to the trail, patching off as it froze slowly.

He followed the trail, keeping up his careful footsteps, carefully patting them out of the snow with his tail. The trail led back into the trees, where the light hardly reached. He sniffed along curiously, following both the scent and trail that he could not decipher. 

When he found the creator of the trail, he almost dropped all of his deer. 

A tiny, tiny wyrmling sat shivering pathetically in the snow, collapsed from exhaustion and breathing in shallow, rattling breaths. His silver scales were covered in the same gelatinous substance as before, slowly beginning to frost over his tiny body. His wings were folded over him clumsily as he shivered, providing the bare minimum of warmth.

Silver dragons were made for the snow and the ice, no question, but freezing to death was still a very real option. This thing was barely an hour old, judging by the fact that the fluid was still not frozen and also the fact that he was still, Y’know, alive.

A parent wouldn’t leave this thing to fend for themselves. They wouldn’t leave an egg so far from their lair, and the surrounding land wasn’t suitable for a lair, not for miles. 

He’d been abandoned. He’d been left in the snow to die a wyrmling, and judging by the size of him, Kravitz knew exactly why.

He couldn’t leave him. He was a baby, a newborn. He wasn’t made to survive without a carer until another year, at the least. To leave him would be cruel.

Kravitz hesitated. 

Then he took the deer from his mouth and into his two claws, and grabbed the tiny hatchling by the scruff of the neck. The little thing hardly noticed, almost limp as he was being carried.

Kravitz begged and pleaded to every known god that this little thing wouldn’t die.

He leapt off of the ground and into the sky, hiding the last of his footprints with a giant flap of his almighty wings.

There wasn’t much he could do to shield the baby of the harsh wind they were flying into, but Kravitz knew the faster he got to the lair then the faster thing little thing would be alright. 

He reached home in record time, touching down as gently as he possibly could. He tossed the deer into a pile of snow beside the entrance to his cave, swishing more snow on top of the carcasses with his tail. He hurried inside with little thought of who or what could be watching him enter his home.

He almost ran down to the hoard, narrowly avoiding plenty of traps and sharp edges as he hurried on all four feet. 

The cave that housed the hoard was huge, big enough for Kravitz to stand on his hind legs and still not be able to touch the ceiling. Doors were pretty difficult to use in his dragon form, but the thick curtains that closed of their hoard from the outer caves with an ingenious camouflage spell (made lovingly by Taako) were more than simple to squeeze through.

He found Taako in his humanoid form, inspecting his latest additions to their shared hoard in the glinting light of their bright and giant fire.

He looked up happily when he heard Kravitz bounding in, but his smile instantly fell to a perplexed expression when he saw what Kravitz was holding.

“Babe, I know I said I wanted to get more freaky with you, but I really did not mean cannibalism!” He quipped, though his usual snark was washed from his voice with a fresh wave of both fear and confusion.

“Deer’s outside.” He spoke around the hatchling held gently in his teeth, which was not the most easy thing to do.

He hurried over to the large fire that Taako had lit before, rushing to lay the baby down gently on the thick rug that lay before the flames. Hopefully that would prevent him from freezing to death, and would take him further from death’s doorstep.

“Okay babe, that’s great and all, thanks,” Kravitz heart involuntarily swelled at Taako’s words, despite the worried voice that came with them, “But what in the seventh hell is that?!” Taako couldn’t help from shouting, raising from his curled position on an old chair that probably once belonged to some fallen king or queen.

Kravitz hesitated, nervously pushing at the freezing baby with his snout to try and rouse him. “It’s a wyrmling, Taako.” He said, voice tense and high pitched.

Taako rolled his eyes. “No fuckin Duh, babe, why do you have a baby! I didn’t know you could get pregnant? Wouldn’t you tell me if you were gonna lay a fuckin’ egg?!”

Kravitz rolled his eyes in turn. “I cannot get pregnant Taako, and this isn’t our baby. He’s a full silver. I found him.”

“You /found/ him?!” Kravitz shrunk back into himself, even despite the fact that Taako’s human form was tiny compared to his dragon form.

“He was alone! He was going to die!” Kravitz tried to defend his actions, though even he knew that what he had done was ridiculous. “I couldn’t let another innocent person die. Not again, Taako.” He whispered, staring at the baby with sad eyes.

Taako sighed. “I know, hun, I understand, but we can’t take care of them! We can barely feed ourselves as it is!” Taako’s body shifted and changed and grew until he was as big as Kravitz, golden shining scales and a tail that flicked through the air nervously.

“I know, Taako, but we can’t leave him to die! He’s so small, Taako, he wouldn’t be alive if I had even been a moment later. He’s so cold, babe.” Kravitz looked up to his mate uncertainly, silently begging him to not cut this short.

Taako reached down to smell him, sniffing curiously with a long golden snout. “What even is this stuff?” He asked, rubbing some of the fluid stuck to the wyrmling between his claws. 

“Fluid. From the egg. It’s harmless, it’ll flake off in a little while.” Kravitz supplied, sitting down quietly.

Taako inspected the wyrmling further. “Shit.” He muttered, closing his eyes with a sigh. “We aren’t ready for this, Kravitz. I love you, but a baby is a whole new thing. The plan was to wait a few more centuries, then try. We aren’t at all prepared for a literal newborn.”

Kravitz nodded. “I know, Taako.” 

Taako looked away from both the baby and his mate, focusing on some particularly shiny trinket in the distance. “We can try and keep him alive, if you want.” He sighed. 

Kravitz looked up from his sad stare, locking into Taako’s shimmering form with surprise written all over his face. “Really?”

Taako sighed again, looking back to his mate. “We can try, babe. We’ll see how we feel once he’s stable enough to go to a proper family. There are plenty of dragons looking for a baby.” He said, even though he knew that wasn’t the case. 

Kravitz nodded, nuzzling the top of his head against the underside of Taako’s. “I love you, Taako.” He murmured.

Taako huffed a small, sad laugh. “I love you too, you stupid adoptive dingus.” Taako had to physically restrain himself from purring under Kravitz’ touch. 

Both of their heads snapped to attention when a small whimper filled the cave. The wyrmling sat on the soft rug, no longer shivering as ice flaked off of him and dribbled down off of him. His little form moved slowly, his wings tightening around his body as he whimpered weakly, then calmed again instantly. 

The two adults shared a nervous look once the baby settled down again. 

“Holy shit, Taako.”

“Babe, we have no fucking idea how to raise a child.”

Kravitz groaned, hiding his face in his claws. 

“What are we supposed to do? Does he eat normal food or what? Are we supposed to feed him?” Taako asked, tilting his head in confusion as he prattled on.

“Oh god, Taako, what are we doing?” Kravitz laughed, though the situation lacked much humour. “Babe, we have no idea what we’re doing.”

The two shared a dry chuckle, nuzzling their snouts together affectionately.

“Well, Bone Boy, I don’t know about you, but I am ready to hit the mother fuckin’ hay after such a stressful mornin’.” Taako stretched out, his tail straightening and his wings flapping out to his Kravitz square in the snout.

Kravitz batter and Taako’s wings, grumbling his disapprovals. “Taako, I’m the one who went hunting and used all their energy, I’m sure you could make us a lovely breakfast while I take a nap.” Kravitz winked at Taako, stretching out in a sloppy impression of Taako, whacking his mate with his tail.

“Yadda, yadda, yadda, Mister Provider, caring for the average suburban family.” Taako stuck his tongue out.

“I’m Mister Provider? Really? After you found us this lovely cave and made it all nice for your mate?” Kravitz stuck his tongue out in retaliation, folding his wings against his body again and making his way across the cave, back to the fire place and the tiny hatchling curled up in front of it.

“Do you think breakfast can wait?” Kravitz asked, sniffing around the baby and nudging him with his snout to make sure we was still breathing. 

Taako shrugged, slinking across the cave to his mate. “Sure babe, but if someone takes our food then you’re going out to get more, got it?”

Kravitz nodded with a chuckle, walking circles around the sleeping wyrmling. “How do you sleep with one of these things?” He asked, trying and failing to curl around the little thing. 

Taako rolled his eyes. “It’s not that hard, stupid, move over.” Kravitz stepped aside and Taako filled his place. He circled around the baby a few times, and then settled down on the soft rug, curled tightly around the silver wyrmling. “Fuck, babe, you were right. This little dude is way more cold than you. He’s freezing.”

Kravitz hummed in agreement. He rubbed his snout against Taako’s in an affectionate form of goodnight, to which the gold dragon happily reciprocated. 

He pretended not to notice when Taako began to purr, curling up around his mate. He put his head right next to Taako’s and the gold dragon rested his own head on him. Their tails subconsciously intertwined as their breaths fell into a steady pace.

Kravitz could feel Taako’s body rumbling against him with the force of his purrs, and let his own chest begin to stutter and rumble in tandem. He felt the heat of the fire and hoped that it was enough to keep this poor little thing alive. 

Kravitz let his eyes close, and fell asleep.

The way Kravitz was woken up was... less than pleasant.

His ears were filled with whinging chirps, echoing around the cave seemingly without end.

His body was pushed to the side as Taako stood up, rather annoyed.

“What the fuck even is this?” Taako groaned, nudging the wyrmling in front of him, who was screaming his lungs out.

Kravitz groaned. “He’s not able to speak yet. He’s probably hungry or something.” He covered his ears with his claws, laying back down as if nothing was happening. “You deal with it.”

“Why should I deal with it?!” Taako complained, sitting back hard enough to shake the cave, which didn’t exactly help calm down the crying wyrmling. “You’re the one who fuckin’ stole him from the woods.” He grumbled.

Taako stood up again, shaking off to wake himself up fully, before slinking towards the cave exit grumpily. 

Kravitz huffed at the wave of harsh, cold air that came flooding in the cave when Taako parted the curtains. “Where are you going?” He called, blinking open his sleepy eyes to watch his mate.

“Gonna get those deer you hid outside. Make the little squirt some good good food.” He responded, closing the thick purple curtains behind him without another word.

Kravitz turned away from the curtain and turned to the baby— well, his baby, now. He nuzzled the little guy, trying to give him any sort of comfort and in turn stop his piercing screams. 

He grabbed the baby by the scruff of the neck, pulling him from the rug to sit on his stomach where he would be more comfortable. He held his first claw out to the wyrmling and the little guy instantly reached out for it, chewing on it with his dull teeth. 

It worked, for the most part, the hatchling focusing more on trying to eat Kravitz’ claw than calling out for food. 

It caused Kravitz no pain, his dull little teeth barely even scratching the surface of his claw no matter how hard he ground his little teeth into it, thought he would definitely be wiping off his claw when he was done. 

Taako came back rather quickly, and was very pleased that the wyrmling had finally stopped whining. 

He had four deer held loosely in his jaw, stalking back into the cave with a quiet laugh at the claw that Kravitz was sacrificing to their hungry wyrmling. He dropped the carcasses to the floor, breaking off a piece of antler and holding it out to the baby’s snout. 

The baby sniffed before pulling away from Kravit’s claw and patching onto the bone instead. 

Kravitz looked to Taako and taako answered him without looking back. “Deer antlers are pretty dang good snacks. They won’t fill him up but the marrow tastes good and got a lotta nutrients, and are pretty fun to chew.” He laughed to himself, using his sharp claws to begin working on the deer meat, skinning it, and then taking the meat off of the bone for only one. He and Kravitz would eat them whole, but it would be best to avoid any choking hazards for someone as small as the wrynling. He cooked them rather quickly by using the flames that poured from his mouth, an expert in doing so after a life lived on the road. 

The wyrmling managed to keep himself distracted working on the fragment of antler until Taako waved a small chunk of cooked meat in front of his snout, and he dropped the antler instantly, gobbling the little piece of warm meat in record time. The tiny dragon instantly opened his mouth for more, his rounded teeth shining as his jaw practically unhinged. Taako pulled another small piece off of the large chunk of meat, watching amused as the little guy swallowed it almost whole. 

Taako continued to feed the wyrmling small scraps of meat until he stopped presenting his mouth for more, and then finally started to eat his own.

He pointedly ignored Kravitz smirk as they finished off their meal in silence. 

The little wyrmling, still laid on Kravitz’ belly, began to doze again, his belly full and his body exhausted from all the earlier commotion.

After a wide and squeaky yawn, his breaths fell into a steady rhythm as he stretched out, his tiny wings covering his body as he finally settled down.

Taako and Kravitz shared a moment of awed silence, looking from each other to the sleeping baby, and back to each other again.

Taako snorted. “You’re not gonna be able to move for /hours/, babe. Wyrmlings are known for sleeping for long periods of time.” He laughed, trotting away from his mate with a playful swish of his tail.

Kravitz sent an icy glare in his direction, knowing full well that even the slightest sound could easily disturb the baby sleeping peacefully on his stomach, and start up the crying all over again.

They shared a nice silence for a while, Taako climbing up quietly (not quiet at all) onto the hoard, and Kravitz trying to find enough comfort in lying in his back to fall asleep. 

Taako cleared his throat, garnering the attention of his very sleepy mate. “How long is he gonna be like this, babe?” He asked, staring at the hatchling with distant eyes. 

Kravitz looked over to him, and answered with a whisper. “Like what?” He knew Taako would be able to hear him even from across the room with his heightened hearing, a common trait in Dragons.

Taako sighed, shifting slightly on the huge pile of gold and silver he lay on. “Like a baby. Like, we can’t feed him constantly, or always be there to comfort him when he cries. I love the little dude, but he’s a total poacher magnet when he’s like this.” 

Kravitz gave a near silent laugh. “Have you forgotten how fast dragons mature? He’ll be like this a few days at most, then he’ll be perfectly able to regulate his own feeding times and he won’t have to whinge and cry to get our attention.” Taako nodded, burying his his face deeper in the mound of gold anxiously. 

“Everything will be just fine, dear.” Kravitz whispered. “If we’re good to him then he’ll be good to us, and that isn’t so hard, huh?” 

Taako laughed dryly. “For you maybe. You’re a sweetheart, you’re all compassionate and shit. Taako’s not exactly at the top of your list of ‘affectionate people’.”

Kravitz frowned. “Hey, none of that, dear. You’re wonderful, and he’s gonna love you no matter what.” He stretched to grab the tiny wyrmling by the scruff of the neck and lifted him off of his stomach, rolling up onto his feet and making his way to Taako, while the little wyrmling squeaked out another yawn. 

Kravitz made his way to the hoard, gently setting down the wyrmling against Taako’s belly. “Look who came to say hello to their Papa.” He murmured, unable to hold back a smile as the baby dragon got comfy in his new position, flopping against Taako’s belly over and over until he found the perfect spot.

Taako gagged. “Don’t make me the Papa, that’s what I call Merle.” Kravitz chuckled, but Taako was too busy staring at the wyrmling to even notice. He folded his wing gently over his side, keeping the baby in a little chamber of comfort and warmth.

“Call me...” he paused to think. “Dami.” He said proudly, his frills puffing out a little in pride. 

“Dami?” Kravitz asked with a wide grin, bounding up onto the hoard beside his mate. 

Taako scoffed. “Fuck yeah, Dami. Ain’t gonna have no one infringing on the Taako brand.”

Kravitz laughed, coming up to sit in front of Taako. “I like that mind set.” 

Taako nodded, lifting up his wing so that Kravitz could come closer, then blanketing it over his mate once more. “I think you’d be the daddy though.”

Kravitz pillowed his head against Taako’s. “Really?”

Taako nodded. “You got a Daddy vibe, Y’know? You are the guy who kind of stole a newly hatched dragon from the middle of the woods.” He snickered.

Kravitz poked out his tongue. “Shush, you would have done the same.” He flicked his tongue, and just when Taako was gearing up to retaliate he spoke again. “And don’t even think about pretending you wouldn’t, I know you pretty damn well by now.”

Taako rolled his eyes, and Kravitz was sure that if he had been in his elven form that he would have been redder than wine. 

The two spent a few silent moments sharing affections, nuzzling their snouts together, rubbing against each other’s necks and sharing soft nose kisses. Both of them felt a rumble in their chests, and were not afraid to purr as loud as their body allowed in the comfort of their hoard.

“He’s so small, Kravvy.” Taako whispered, putting out the larger part of the fire with a simple spell. 

Kravitz hummed against Taako’s neck. “I know. I think that’s why they abandoned his egg.” 

“Because he was a runt.” Taako murmured, staring over the steadily breathing child contemplatively. 

Kravitz nodded. “Yeah.” 

‘Like me’, he added silently. 

Silver dragons were typically larger than Gold dragons, but since Kravitz was a runt (his egg left at a temple after being found alone in the snow, months from hatching, barely even alive), he and Taako were almost the same size, if Taako weren’t already bigger.

“Should we give it a name?” Taako asked, yawning as his eyes began to droop.

Kravitz thought for a moment. “Don’t dragons name themselves?” He wouldn’t have known if they did, after he was raised at a temple of the Raven Queen by her humanoid clerics and servants. 

Taako shook his head. “Nah, babe, that’s elves. They change their name when they become adults. Dragons just get a name and roll with it, like chaboy.” 

Kravitz huffed a small laugh. “Well I think he looks pretty fancy, don’t you? He deserves a fancy boy name.”

Taako glanced back at the softly purring wyrmling. “Oh, hell yeah, babe, that’s a fuckin’ fancy boy right there. What’s a good name for a fancy fancy boy?”

“What about Alfred?” Kravitz offered. 

“Alfred?! Are you out of your goddamn mind? Anyone who names their child Alfred should be deemed an unfit parent.”

Kravitz rolled his eyes. “Well I don’t think the parental care comity would be exactly ‘rooting’ for ‘Sir Shortbridges III’” he retorted, earning a mock offended gape from Taako. 

“I only named like, two fucking cats that. And that was like twenty years ago you bastard. I was going to say Beau.” Taako poked his tongue out menacingly.

“Beau? That’s a chromatic name, Taako. I wasn’t introduced to Draconic culture until I was 83 and even I know that.” Taako groaned, and Kravitz thwacked him with his tail.

“On and on again with the orphan bullshit Krav, I’m an orphan too, ya ding dong.” Taako laughed, nipping playfully at Kravitz horns. 

“I read a rather nice book the last time I went into town.” Kravitz said, voice low and smooth. 

Taako quirked an eyebrow. “And? We’re talking about names right now, baby. Did you hit your head while you were out?”

Kravitz rolled his eyes again, but couldn’t horn back his smile. “Hush up, Darling, I’m getting there.”

“It was a nice little book about a boy who was very fancy and kind, you know. It was a children’s book, but pay that no mind, please.” 

Taako laughed. He had no intention to forget that Kravitz read children’s literature.

“His name was Angus.” Kravitz said. “I think it’s a good name.” 

Taako thought in a rare moment of silence. “Angus. Angus, Ango. I like it! That’s a pretty fancy boy name, my man, and it also happens to be one that this dragon rather likes.” Taako purred, winking at Kravitz aimlessly.

“So, Angus it is?” Kravitz asked, gazing over at the wyrmling contemplatively. 

“Our little Angus.” Taako murmured, pressing a soft kiss (or whatever to closest thing to kiss was, in this damned Dragon form) to the side of Kravitz’ head, and then burrowing back down into the gold.

“I love you, stupid.” Taako sighed, before letting his purring take over and his body relax as he slowly fell to sleep.

Kravitz huffed. “Love you too, fuckin’ dumbass.”

**Author's Note:**

> apologies to anyone called Alfred, Beau or Sir Shortbridges III. It’s nothing personal. Only business :^)
> 
> p.s. if anyone wants to see more of this stuff then please let me know, I’d be honoured to write for you!! I absolutely adore these type of AUs!!


End file.
